Shuttle for sewing-machines



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W. H. LATHAM. SHUTTLE FOR SEWING MACHINES. No. 449,682. Patented Apr. 7, 1891.

g7 llll i ll abtozmen NITED STATES ATENT FFICE SHUTTLE FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 449,682, dated April '7, 1891.

Application filed March 10, 1890.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. LATHAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at- Fitchville, in the county of New London and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shuttles for Sewing-Machines, which improvements are f nlly set forth and described in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying sheet of drawings.

My invention has special relation to that class of shuttles (carrying the under thread) in which at present a spool or bobbin is used, the said shuttle beingadapted to oscillate to bring its attached looper or hook into proper relation to the needle and upper thread, as in the case of certain Singer machines provided for heavy work.

It has been a common practice heretofore to use with such shuttles a bobbin, formed in some cases substantially as a flanged spool, having the thread wound directly thereon, and also a spool having two separable flanges with short barrel-sections adapted to enter a cop-tube on which the thread is wound.

- When spools or bobbins of the forms described are used,the thread of necessity renders from the outside or perimeterof the coil, the bobbin rotating meanwhile within the shuttle,.and there is a constant tendency on the part of said thread to draw in between the coil and the adjacert flange of the spool as said thread is drawn off, thus becoming wedged so tightly that it fails to deliver promptly, and as a result breaks.

Another objection to the spools or bobbins thus far referred to lies in the fact that when the thread is delivered from the perimeter of the coil the leverage and resulting tension vary materially as the coil grows smaller, un-' til the pulling strain at the last is very much greater than when the full bobbin is first put to use. These serious objections and other minor ones, such as cost of spools or bobbins, my present invention is intended to overcome or avoid, and, inv brief, accomplishes the desired results by making certain changes in the shuttle and by using a coil of thread having no core or cop, but adapted to deliver Serial No. 343,237. (No model.)

from the center instead of from theperimeter thereof, as above described.

To illustrate my invention, I have annexed hereto a sheet of drawings, in which' Figures 1 and 3 are respectively edge and rear side views of a combined shuttle and looper embodying my invention, and Fig. 2 is an outer face or side view of the same, showing the looper in operative relation to a machine-needle, the direction of movement of said looper being indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. Figs. 4 and 5 show the inner faces of the two principal sections of said shuttle and looper, exposing to view the cavity (half in section) that is to receive the coil of thread, which latter is shown in Fig. 7. Fig. 6 is a cross section of the shuttle illustrated in Fig. 2, taken on line 00 0c, and showing the coil of thread seated therein.

Referring to the drawings, the figures l0 and 11 denote the two principal sections of the shuttle, each provided with a cavity whose depth is slightly greater than one-half the thickness of the coil of thread, said sections being hinged together by a pin or screw 12, and thus adapted to be partially opened, as indicated in Fig. 6, to permit the entrance or removal of the coil 13 of thread. lVhen the shuttle is closed, the outer faces of the sections will be substantially parallel with each other, and the axis of the cavity, if extended, would intersect or pass through said outer surfaces. To prevent the accidental opening or separation of said hinged sections, a flat spring 1 is provided, one of whose ends is rigidly secured to section 10 by a screw or rivet 15, while the free end of said spring bears on the hinge-leaf of the companion section, substantially like the back-spring of a jackknife, and acts with a constant tendency to close the shuttle-sections. The opposite face of the complete shuttle is also closed by a cap or wall 16, and it will thus be understood that the coil of thread is thus securely I do not seek to secure to myself or to claim as my invention a two-part shuttle and looper of the general form and construction shown, if made with one or both faces open, as I am aware that such a construction is old.

The coil 13 has no central cop-tube or other axial support, and may therefore be wound on a very small removable mandrel, thus making it possible to provide a coil that is practically of solid thread, in which case a coil of the same diameter as the spools heretofore used may contain some fifteen to twenty yards more of thread than said spools.

In order that the thread may render freely from the center of the coil,I have provided a guide and tension consisting of an opening 17 in the closed or continuous shuttle-section 11, from which a slot 18 leads outward, and also a spring 19, located immediately over said hole and slot, the spring conforming in shape with and lying close to the outer face of the sect-ion 11, so that the thread may not be caught and hindered while in the act of riding over the spring to fOl'lll a loop. \Vhen the bobbin is placed in the shuttle, its inner end is passed outward through hole 17, and thence through the perforation in the spring 19. These two holes are not coincident, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 2 of the drawings, and the thread as it renders is drawn off for a distance of a quarter of an inch,or there about, under the frictional (clamping) pressure of the spring. The outer surface of section 11 is made semi-elliptical to insure the unobstructed passage of the loop of thread, instead of being flat, as heretofore.

eeaeee There is no appreciable variation of tension as thehole in thecenterof the coilgrows larger by the removal of the thread, which lattercontinues to deliver freely until the very end is reached. 13y thus insuring the free delivery of the under thread the machinery may be kept at work until the coil is exhausted, avoiding the annoying and expensive delays heretofore encountered. The expense attending the necessary changes in the shuttle to allow the use of acoil of thread not supported by a spool or bobbin is very small, whilethe entire cost of such spools or bobbins is avoided.

llaving described my invention, I clain1 A shuttle consisting of two hinged sections, the outer surfaces of which are substantially parallel with each other when the shutte is closed, said sections being provided with a cavity, the axis of which, if extended, would pass through the outer surfaces of the seetions,one of the sections having its outer sur face provided with an opening near its center and havinga slot leading from the periphery of the section into and communicating with the opening near the center, and a tensionspring conforming with and lying close to the outer surface of the perforated section, said spring covering the slot and the opening and having its free end provided with an opensided perforation, substantially as described.

WILLIAM H. LATIIAM. l Vitnesses:

LEWIS BRAND, LILLIAN LA'LHAM. 

